By Ben Auta
In a bid to improve crop production and food sufficiency in Nigeria, there is need to improve the availability of quality seeds and improve farm culture in the nation, says the managing director of SEEDCO, Mr Kolawole Ladan.
He said that Nigeria had only adopted 6-7% hybrids produce in the country which is a far cry from what it was supposed to be.
Speaking during in Kaduna, Thursday, Mr Ladan said that feedback from farmers had shown that the Nigerian terrain, though difficult, had shown that the country can be self-sufficient if the right approach is applied in food production.
He said his organization had been able to surmount the difficulty brought about by climate change by introducing climate change products which are high yielding.
He also said that though the government is trying its best in making agriculture marketable, storage of food and loan facilities to rural farmers had been a major problem affecting food production in the country.
He added that banks had been shy in availing long term loans to farmers, especially in the rural areas which had been the bane of sustainable food production.
Also speaking , a staff of the organization, one Mr Victor, said that SEEDCO is a Nigerian agro-allied company that is research-based so that Nigerians can have the benefit of a better yield.
He said that the company had been able to produce quality seeds which had turned around the woes of farmers in Kaduna and the nation in general.
He called on other farmers to cue into the revolution ongoing in agriculture in order to achieve maximum potentials.
Questions and answers were entertained during the programme as many farmers gave positive comments about the efficacy of the seeds developed by SEEDCO.
